Fix You
by Ethlena
Summary: They need each other to fill in the gaps, mend the holes and heal the hurt of the years.


**Author's Note - ** My response to jaxalie on Tumblr. She set a challenge to " Take the song 'Fix You' as an inspiration for a fic, any ship you fancy (doesn't even have to be a ship, can be a family member I.E. Granny/Red or Rumple/Bae) and post it up for us to see the different things that come out of the woodworks!" - Disclaimer - I only own the plot (I know I've only used part of the song but this is just how it developed ) Song lyrics in Italics

**Fix You - **

_When you try your best, but you don't succeed.._

It was one of those days. They didn't happen very often but they still haunted her as she began to get used to this new and strange world. Nothing was going right today, she couldn't get the washing device that sprayed water to the right temperature and shampoo got in her eyes which stung. She had tripped over her own feet three times , walked into the door frame and in dressing laddered three pairs of tights. It was all made worse by the fact her one true love was not around to pick up the pieces or even just to smirk and send a sarcastic quip in her direction. She had just about managed to make it to the kitchen without breaking anything and was now sitting at the table, recipe book in hand . After 10 minutes she had decided she was going to make tomato soup for lunch and surprise Rum when he came back . This however meant facing the blender, an appliance she still didn't trust. She had gathered her ingredients . After about twenty minutes of staring at them she heard a ringing and nearly jumped out of her skin. Then she realised it must be the speaking machine . She tentatively picked up the handset and listened to the voice of Rum on the other end. "Oh ok, no ...no that's fine don't worry I'll see you later" she put down the phone. That was soup for one then, this day was just getting worse. Well Rum or no Rum she was still going to defeat the blender, albeit in a subtler way than that run in with the parking meter.

_you get what you want, but not what you need..._

Thirty minutes and several words that would make Rumple blush later Belle had soup. She took the steaming bowl and a cup of tea (black and a little over stewed just like she liked it) to the chaise lounge in the living room. The soup was good . She ate it while it was a little too hot and it scalded the sides of her throat and burnt her tongue but she didn't care. She had managed to produce the soup just as it was described in the book but she still felt empty. She looked out of the window and the hazy light cast beams on the floor and dust danced in them.

_when you're so tired, but you can't sleep. Stuck in reverse ..._

Belle was sat in the sun, soup bowl abandoned ,trying to read . Her bones hurt and her muscles ached and she just wanted to curl up next to Rumpelstiltskin and fall asleep. Her head was painful from where she had hit it on the kitchen cupboard earlier and the book in her hands was laying open in her palms left unread. She put in her bookmark and lay down on the antique furniture hoping to sleep but try as she might her brain and body would not allow it. She thought back over the day so far. She had been dealing so well with technology that existed in the new world, she had almost mastered the TV and the hairdryer didn't make her hide in the corner anymore. However, today it just seemed like for every step she had taken forward she had taken at least two back.

_And the tears come streaming down your face, when you lose something you can't replace..._

She had been trying to make dinner for them both, the kitchen seeing to be the only place that she wasn't messing up today . That was until she dropped the ceramic pot she was moving. She saw it in slow motion as it hit the floor and she collapsed with it. A hot prickly feeling started in her eyes and the tears followed quickly on. She was only trying to move the bowl from the microwavery thing, she didn't realise it would make the bowl hot as well as its contents.

_When you love someone but it goes to waste..._

Rum pulled into the driveway feeling emotionally drained. He had seen a couple today as they walked down the pavement a small boy between them. He had seen how the woman looked at her man and his heart ached. He love Belle with all his heart but he reflected on the fact that over the last few days he had all but neglected her. So scared was he that she might slip or run away from him he could hardly cope with looking in her direction in case he might find an empty space and turn out to be all a dream. He sighed as he walked slowly towards the front door. It was then he realised that all the visible lights in the house were off , that was strange as Belle loved the light.

_Lights will guide you home..._

He cautiously opened the front door, cane firm in his hand for attacking any intruders that in his mind he imagined to be raiding his home. Instead of the ransacked house he imagined he might find everything was perfectly as he had left it. He stood for a moment in the darkness of the front hall struck by a sound in the silence. It was a soft and gentle noise, consistent and it pulled at his heart strings. Someone was sobbing and that someone could only be his Belle. He moved quickly through the house looking for her and then he spotted the clue, the light in the dark. The only light in the whole house was seeping out from under the kitchen door. As he walked toward that place the sound of the sobbing increased.

_And ignite your bones..._

Quietly he opened the door . Pushing it just far enough ajar that he could see clearly through the gap. There on the floor covered in spaghetti and surrounded by broken china was Belle. She held one of the handles of the pan still in her hands. Through her hair which scattered over her face he could see her red puffy eyes and he saw the goosebumps on her arms. She must have been there some time, she was shivering. He could feel the mix of feelings rising in his soul . In that moment he felt the fear dissipating and in its place concern and love growing. He moved gently into the room. When she didn't move he called her name gently until she slowly turned her red blotched face towards him. "I can't cope Rum" she said quietly in despair "this is never going to work, this world is just fighting me at every turn". He sat and listened to her talking his heart breaking.

_And I will try to fix you ... _

Bad knee be damned she needed him right now and he wasn't about to let her down not again. So he sank down beside her and took her slight frame in his arms kissing the tear stains from her cheeks. Holding her tightly to him so her head rested beneath his chin. "you will make it love , it's hard I know but you'll make it through . Trust me." " If I'm going to make it I need _you_ to be here to help me Rum. It might not show but I'm am a little broken inside from all the years even if I try to ignore it". His heart tore open then the last bit of its hard case of uncaring and cowardice gone he pulled her closer to him never wanting to let go.

_And high up above or down below. When you're too in love to let it go. But if you never try you'll never know, just what you're worth..._

"I will walk to the ends of the earth for you love. I've been so blind and scared but I can see without fog now. I promise sweetheart that however long the road may be, I'll walk it right by your side". He gently took the handle of the bowl from her tiny hinds and placed it on the ground beside them, she turned looking up at him with hopeful eyes. The road wasn't going to be easy, no road worth travelling ever was, but they had each other and between them they would fix each other as much as they could.


End file.
